An atomic sensing device, such as an atomic magnetometer or a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) gyroscope, can include alkali metal particles that precess within an enclosed body in response to an applied magnetic field to allow a parameter associated with a sensitive axis to be measured. As an example, an NMR gyroscope can measure an angular rotation about a sensitive axis, and an atomic magnetometer can be configured to measure the magnitude of one or more external magnetic fields along two orthogonal axes. The value of the measured parameter associated with the sensitive axis can be based on a relative angular alignment between the sensitive axis and a physical axis of the atomic sensing device.